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Privacy Workshop to Explore "Big Data" Opportunities, Challenges

Last month, the President asked Counselor John Podesta to lead a comprehensive review of how “big data” – data sets so massive, diverse, or complex, that conventional technologies cannot adequately capture, store, or analyze them – will affect how Americans live and work. Senior administration officials have since begun to look at the implications of collecting, analyzing, and using such data for privacy, the economy, and public policy.

Last month, the President asked Counselor John Podesta to lead a comprehensive review of how “big data” – data sets so massive, diverse, or complex, that conventional technologies cannot adequately capture, store, or analyze them – will affect how Americans live and work. Senior administration officials have since begun to look at the implications of collecting, analyzing, and using such data for privacy, the economy, and public policy.

Because we all have an important stake in the future of privacy, hearing from a broad range of experts and engaging the public is critical to this effort. To advance this inquiry, OSTP will be co-hosting a series of public events to hear from technologists, business leaders, civil society, and the academic community. The first event is a public workshop organized by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), entitled “Big Data Privacy: Advancing the State of the Art in Technology and Practice.” The workshop will be held on March 3, 2014. For information on how to register, or how to watch the event by webcast, please go to MIT’s website here.

As part of this effort, OSTP will be co-hosting at least two additional events—one with the Data & Society Research Institute and New York University, and one with the School of Information and the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology at the University of California, Berkeley. In the coming weeks, we will be announcing additional opportunities for the public to inform this important work. Check back here for more information and updates on our progress.

Nicole Wong is U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer at the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy